Runelords 33.0 - Beneath the Black Tower
Travelling another day together, the group came to the lip of the valley known as Jorgenfist. Massive numbers of treants formed small groves of like-specied trees, none of which were right for the elevation and climate. They surrounded a walled fortress, part of which seemed to be a black, conical tower. Using Invisibility Sphere, the group approached the wall. The gates were closed, so Khyr took a rope and, blanketed under another Invisibility spell, scaled the stone. The rest of the group climbed the rope after him, but once again, Eamon made a lot of noise. A Silence spell from Khyr was a moment too late; the treants had been alerted and moved to investigate the sound. The group scaled the wall and rappelled down the far side without trouble, though a treant opened the gate to look through, still wondering about the noise. Inside, the group could see a huge pit had been dug in the middle of the courtyard. Several wooden buildings had been erected, and set into the side of the wall was a black tower. A treant could be seen some distance away, breaking a drake for riding. At the foot of the mysterious tower, its shape and material suggesting a chaotic extraplanar origin that mimicked the aesthetics of Hell, was a door. Five kobolds wearing the paint of the Shivering Ones stood at attention, guarding the door. However, they faced in, not out, as though the threat was to come from inside the tower. Deciding to push their luck, the group stealthily approached the Shivering Ones before dispelling their magic and approaching them openly with friendliness and the greetings of their tribe. The kobolds seemed to not find them out of place, directing them to the pit if they were new there. They chatted amicably, with Khyr and Virgil speaking to them in Reptilian and doing their best to gather information while making it seem like they were expected there. The Shivering Ones seemed to know little about the fort's operations or command structure: they were only here on contract to make repairs and armaments. The treants and drakes served the snake-women, and they were the ones in charge. This group in particular, however, was only there as part of their contract: a terrible force was trapped in the tower, and they were there to ensure that it remained as such. It was a wizard who sucked the heat out of everything, and the Shivering Ones could not condone such a horrible creature; as part of their agreement, the snake-women had to allow Shivering Ones to guard this entrance day and night to make sure the flame-snuffing monster was contained. Thanking them, the group moved out of sight, around the side of the tower. They agreed that this structure was likely the only original part, and certainly the goal of Alicia, if not theirs. Using Dimension Door again, the group teleported inside so as to not disturb the Shivering Ones. The room inside was freezing cold, as well as barren. A raised platform was on one side, and a well-like pit opened up in the center of the floor, but there was nothing else. Volunteering cheerily, Khyr strapped a rope to himself and rappelled down the pit to investigate. As he climbed downwards, he could hear muttering: something about everything being green. The shaft went down nearly 50 feet before opening into a round chamber lit by green light, its walls thick with frost and the air biting cold. A mummy lay muttering on a dias, its bandaged arms clutching something to its chest. As Khyr stuck his head in and yelled up to the others, the mummy made a screech and floated upright, coming after Khyr with a vengeance. Khyr scrambled up the rope as fast as possible, with the mummy assaulting him on the way. He resisted its aura, but the mummy's brutal strikes pummeled him regardless. As the pair broke the surface, the mummy's aura hit the rest of the group. Eamon, Shadliss and Alicia were all paralyzed with fear. Virgil made to attack the mummy, hoping to draw its attention away from his paralyzed teammates. He got his wish: the mummy brutalized him with a flurry of powerful blows that left him stunned on the floor. Khyr dragged the stunned Virgil away from the mummy as the other three regained their senses. Coordinating their attacks, the group turned the tables on the undead. Romeo once again proved himself a fearless and skilled combatant. Though the mummy attempted to flee by flying upwards, the party showed it no quarter. A particularly brutal and well-aimed crossbow bolt from Khyrralien felled the mummy, which collapsed into an inert corpse. After pulling off the few magic items that it carried, the group turned their attentions to the object it clutched. It was some sort of black, engraved scroll case, chained to its body. Breaking the chains, they looked over the box: it was engraved with Valparisan runes and sealed with a series of complicated locks. A quick translation effort from Virgil suggested that the runes were a coded solution to the locks, but Shadliss, the only one among them with lockpicking skill, found that it was much too complicated for this time and place. The box was stowed away for the time being. Khyr quickly investigated the pit again, but there was nothing else to be found in the now slowly-thawing room. As the group discussed what to do with the body, agreeing to cremate it right there with some funerary rites by Alicia before presenting their work to the Shivering Ones, Virgil and Khyr began to feel distinctly unwell. By the time the fire had been started and the Shivering Ones let in and informed that the frost wizard was dead, it was clear what had happened: they had contracted the cursed disease that killed those that would dare disturb mummies. Alicia was familiar with the curse, but did not have the spells necessary to stop it. Their only hope was Mayor Luthra, four days away, if they could survive that long.Category:Rise of the Runelords